European Commission Interest representation – lobbying

1. European Commission Interestrepresentation – lobbying

2. Lobbying and interestrepresentation • EU institutions must operate in an OPENfashion (principlestated in article 1 of the Treaty on EU) • Lobbying and interestrepresentation are bothlegitimate and necessary. • Legitimatebecause in a democracy, anycitizen has the right to beheard by and to express itsviews to public office holders. • Necessarybecause public authoritiesneed to receive inputs fromstakeholders, interested parties, citizens etc. in order to prepare and deliverqualitylegislation and regulation.

3. Lobbying and interestrepresentation Examples of acceptable forms • Use of official channels and procedures • Input in public consultations, green papers etc. • Participation in public hearings, consultatives committees • Informal initiatives & opportunities • Position papers sent spontanously (provision of argumentaries or scientific studies ), Open letters • Invitation sent to officials to participate in seminars • Communication via the media • Various forms of « grassroot lobbying »

4. Lobbying and interestrepresentation • BUT: Lobbying and interest representation must be conducted in • TRANSPARENCY : Every citizen has a right to know who is participating in the EU decision making process or engaged in activities aiming at influencing it. • The respect of the LAW and of ETHICAL principle. (should not involve bribery, corruption, harassment, undue pressure, etc.)

5. Commission’spolicy main features • Commission has a long tradition of openness and interaction with interest representation. • It is committed to an open and inclusive policy. • Members and officials are bound by strict rules and codes of conduct to prevent corruption. (declaration of interest, limits to presents received, etc.) • It has set up in 2008 a special instrument for transparency « The register of interest representatives » • To become next June an insterinstitutional « The transparency Register » shared by both the European Parliament and the Commission

6. The Transparency Register • An instrument for the registration and the monitoring of organisations and self employedindividualsengaged in EU policymaking and policyimplementation. • It isbased on three components: • A volontary public Registeravailable to the public on the Web. • A code of conduct to besignedand respected by the registrants • A system of complaint and sanctions in the event of breaches of the code of conduct by the regsitrants.

7. The Transparency Register • Whoisconcerned and expected to register: • Professional consultancies and lawfirms • Companieswith in house lobbyists, trade& professional associations • NGOs • Think tanks, academic & research institutions. • Organisations representingchurches and religiouscommunities. • Local, regional & municipal authorities, otherpublic or mixed entities. WHEN ENGAGED IN ACTIVITIES FALLING WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THE REGISTER

8. The Transparency Register On 4 April 2011, there were 3829 interest representatives organisations in the Commission register. • Professional consultancies / law firms involved in lobbying EU institutions 246 • «in-house» lobbyists and trade associations active in lobbying 1,812 • NGO / think-tank 1,223 • other organisations 548

9. The Transparency Register ACTIVITIES FALLING WITHIN THE SCOPE OF THE REGISTER: • All activitiescarried out with the objective of directly or indirectlyinfluencing the policy formulation or implementation and decisionmakingprocesses of European Institutions, irrespective of the communication channel or medium used. It mayinclude inter alia: outsourcing, media, contractwithprofessionalintermediaries, think tanks, platforms, fora, campaign and grassroot initiatives

10. The Transparency Register • Main information to provide (made public). • Coordinates; person legally responsible. • Number of people involved in representation activities. • Goals, fields of interests, number of staff involved in representation activities. • Financial information (For trade associations: an estimate of the cost of activities falling under the scope of the register).

11. The Transparency Register Registrantssign a code of conductwhichincludes a commitment to always: • identify themselves by name and by the entity(ies) they work for or represent; • not misrepresent themselves as to the effect of registration to mislead third parties and/or EU staff; • declare the interests, and where applicable the clients or the members, which they represent; • ensure that, to the best of their knowledge, information which they provide is unbiased, complete, up-to-date and not misleading; • not obtain or try to obtain information, or any decision, dishonestly; • not induce EU staff to contravene rules and standards of behaviour applicable to them; • if employing former EU staff, respect their obligation to abide by the rules and confidentiality requirements which apply to them.

12. The Transparency Register Complaint and sanction mechanism • Anyone can file a complaint (which supporting material elements) against a registrant suspected of a breach of the code • Register secretariat investigates case. If violation is established: Sanctions can be decided (impact on reputation): • Temporary suspension from Register. • Deletion from the Register.

13. To know more VISIT THE REGISTER WEBSITE • http://ec.europa.eu/transparency/regrin/